By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It's big - really, really big.

Whatever else can be said about it, The Matrix Reloaded is so full of swirling, virtuoso imagery that the screen can barely contain it. By the second reel, I was already eager to see it in full 70mm glory on an Imax screen (a large-format version rolls out June 6).

MOVIE REVIEW

The Matrix Reloaded (R; sci-fi violence, some sexuality) Keanu Reeves, Carrie Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne. Directed by Larry and Andrew Wachowski. 138 minutes. AMC 20, Great Escape 14, Holiday Auto Theater, National Amusements, Oakley Drive-In, Princess Oxford, Colony Square.

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Like the 1999 original, Reloaded is the personal creation of brothers Andrew and Larry Wachowski, who have cultivated enormous expectations for this sequel and the next, The Matrix Revolutions, due Nov. 5.

They do indeed deliver astonishing action, laden with dazzling martial arts choreography by the brilliant Yuen Wo Ping (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and gee-whiz special-effects wizardy. The opening sequence - in which Carrie-Anne Moss falls earthward while firing at an enemy falling above her - is about as masterful an example of movie magic as anyone has ever put on screen. Equally impressive is a heart-stopping car-truck-motorcycle chase down a freeway.

There are times, however, when techno tricks grow wearisome, as when the famous "bullet time" effect, a kind of combination slow-motion and freeze-frame, is used three or four times in a single fight. Very quickly, it starts to look random instead of dramatic.

New characters emerge

The story is dense with new characters and conflicts, which makes for a more emotional experience overall. On the other hand, following the multi-angled plot could be tough sledding for anyone who had not seen the original.

Neo

The background in brief: A rebel army is battling a global network of sentient machines that uses humans for energy source while feeding them the illusion of normal lives. The rebels must return to the Matrix to wage war, using the power of their minds against machine agents. Neo (Keanu Reeves) is the most powerful rebel warrior, believed by his mentor Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) to be The One who, according to an old prophecy, will free the human race.

Agent Smith

By the time of Reloaded, Morpheus isn't the only believer; when the rebel ship docks at the last human holdout, called Zion, Neo is greeted by supplicants bearing gifts and pleas for help. He is not too elevated, however, to hit the hay with Trinity (Moss), in an elegantly framed love scene intercut with a ceremony in the Zion temple that looks like the world's biggest rave.

When he is in the Matrix, Neo - now dressed in what looks like a priest's cassock - not only stops bullets, he can fly too, which gives the Wachowskis a chance to load up on Superman moments, including the climax.

Niobe

Such flashes of wit do wonders for the movie, in which most characters never crack a smile, much less make actual jokes. Still, it is an entertaining crowd, including the evil Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) and his wife Persephone (Monica Bellucci), the Keymaker (Randall Duk Kim), Neo's shipmate Link (Harold Perrineau), rebel Niobe (Jada Pinkett Smith), Zion counselor Hamann (Anthony Zerbe) and the way-cool Twins (Adrian and Neil Rayment), who dodge bullets by de-materializing.

Philosophical moments

In the original Matrix, the Wachowskis had their characters mulling reality and illusion. In Reloaded, they move on to a smorgasbord of philosophies about choice, control and the meaning of life.

The Oracle (the late Gloria Foster) assures Neo that understanding the self is the secret to enlightenment; Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) is all about "purpose" (as he explains in a cunning takeoff on Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous description of "the Force" in Star Wars). For Merovingian, every action boils down to simple cause and effect. Hamann is a man of faith. And Morpheus, of course, knows for sure that destiny runs the show.

Meaty stuff, yes, but not particularly thrilling. Pronouncements such as, "We can never see past choices we don't understand" or "We are forever slaves" are crowbarred into the flow of the story. For the most part, the speeches neither tantalize nor illuminate; they just sit there like speed bumps.

Still, The Matrix Reloaded is a work of tremendous ambition, executed with rare artistry. Even though the Wachowskis don't hit every target they set for themselves, their unmatched commitment yields grand and memorable entertainment.

E-mail mmcgurk@enquirer.com